So here is what The Ear wants to know: How is the bad flu epidemic affecting the classical music scene in Madison?

After all, the second half of the season is just getting underway. This month will see performances by the Madison Opera, the University Opera, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Willy Street Chamber Players, the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, the Wisconsin Union Theater, various performers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, and many more.

He wants to hear both ideas and first-person stories or experiences from performers, presenters and audience members.

Has the fear of getting sick kept you, as an individual or group, from performing or affected your performance?

Has the flu affected the overall attendance of performances?

Has the flu, and fear of catching it, already kept you personally from being in a crowd and attending a performance or concert? How about in the future?

It’s nasty, I was sick almost the entire month of January. It’s common courtesy to stay away from others during the contagious period (and maybe a while afterword just to be sure). As for refunding tickets: Why does this question always seem to arise regarding the performing arts, but never arise regarding sporting events? If you paid a hefty price for a ticket to a Packers game and got sick, would you even think to ask for a refund? Our performing artists are already dependent on grants and donations, while our professional athletes are millionaires. How do we go about changing that?